1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to a software architecture for future open wireless architecture (OWA) mobile terminal which provides an open and secured software platform to deliver the truly service-oriented architecture rather than the wireless standard-specific architecture across various air interfaces with multi-dimensional mobility handovers for the complete fixed, mobile and wireless communications convergence. The terminal system includes capabilities for maximizing the spectrum utilization efficiency and optimizing the system and transmission resource managements across the multi-layered service offerings by the OWA mobile device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the future wireless service provision will be characterized by global mobile access (terminal and personal mobility), high quality of services (full coverage, intelligible, no drop and no/lower call blocking and latency), and easy and simple access to multimedia services for voice, data, message, video, world-wide web, GPS, etc. via ONE user SINGLE terminal.
This vision from the user perspective can be implemented by integration of these different evolving and emerging wireless access technologies in a common flexible and expandable platform to provide a multiplicity of possibilities for current and future services and applications to users in a single terminal. Systems of fourth generation mobile communications will mainly be characterized by a horizontal communication model, where different access technologies as cellular, cordless, wireless local area network (WLAN) type systems, short range wireless connectivity, broadband wireless access system and wired systems will be combined on a common platform to complement each other in an optimum way for different service requirements and radio environments which is technically called “Converged Broadband Wireless and Mobility Platform, or Open Wireless Architecture (OWA) in a more technical sense”.
OWA defines the open interfaces in wireless networks and systems, including base-band signal processing parts, RF (radio frequency) parts, networking parts, and OS (operating system) and applications/services parts, so that the system can support different industrial standards and integrate the various wireless networks into an open broadband mobility platform. For comparison, Software Defined Radio (SDR) is only a radio in which the preset operating parameters including inter alia frequency range, modulation type, and/or output power limitations can be re-set or altered by software. Therefore, SDR is just one of the implemental modules of the future OWA system.
The wireless industry is rapidly transitioning from proprietary architecture to more flexible, cost effective open wireless architecture (OWA) systems. This transition is creating interesting challenges for developers, manufacturers, integrators, operators and end-users as they wrestle with complexities of open wireless systems.
Any single-architecture wireless system, including single 3G (third generation mobile), UMTS (universal mobile telecom service), WiMax (one of the IEEE802.16 standards), etc., is a transitional solution only, and will be replaced by open wireless architecture (OWA) system very soon where various different wireless standards can be integrated and converged on this open platform.
Fourth Generation (4G) mobile communication will basically focus on the Open Wireless Architecture (OWA), and Cost-effective and Spectrum-efficient High-speed wireless mobile transmission. The 3G system suffers tremendously worldwide because it did not fundamentally improve the wireless architecture, and making the architecture open is the final solution in the wireless industry.
OWA will eventually become the global industry leading solution to integrate various wireless air-interfaces into one wireless open terminal where the same end equipment can flexibly work in the wireless access domain as well as in the mobile cellular networks. As mobile terminal (rather than wireline phone) will become the most important communicator in future, this single equipment with single number and multiple air-interfaces (powered by OWA) will definitely dominate the wireless communication industries.
The software architecture for the OWA system is one of the most important parts in the OWA system solutions. The key considerations of this special OWA software architecture include:                1. Optimized Spectrum Utilization—because the OWA system operates in various air interfaces (wireless standards), and supports future open spectrum management strategy, many design issues should be focused on this maximized spectrum efficiency.        2. Multi-dimensional Mobility Management—because the OWA system will be operating in various air interfaces across multi-layered service platforms, the mobility handovers are multi-dimensional amongst difference cells and different active air interfaces.        3. Multi-layered Security management—because the future OWA system will be targeting for multimedia mobile services including data, video and enhanced messaging services which can be easily under virus-like threats. Meanwhile, wireless spectrum is a very expensive and very limited natural resource, any unwanted service contents must be removed or filtered before transmitting into the wireless medium. In addition, the general wireless channel is an unsecured transmission medium which can be easily detected and attacked. Therefore, enhanced security measures are required for this future OWA system, especially for the OWA mobile terminal system.        4. Optimized Resource Management—The OWA system is a future-proven platform and therefore it must focus on the best resource management strategies including spectrum management, power management, processing management, bandwidth management and channel management to maximize the transmission and system performances for the OWA mobile terminal system.        5. Future Service Oriented Platform—the future mobile communications will be definitely based on the service-oriented platform rather than the wireless standards-specific platform. OWA mobile terminal is optimized for the truly open service architecture platform for the fixed, mobile and wireless communications convergence.        6. Open System Modules—The OWA system modules (both hardware and software) are completely open modules which are extensible, upgradeable, re-configurable and removable. Defined by the open interface parameters, the OWA system is similar to the open computer architecture (OCA) utilized in the commercial Computer products. This is very important because the future mobile terminal device will be first, a Computer, then an open wireless architecture radio system.        
Wireless communications are much different from the wireline communications. The OWA solution improves tremendously the conventional wireless systems and converges with the next generation wireline communication technologies to deliver the future-proven integrated and open mobile communication systems supporting the truly service-oriented communication platforms.
More specifically, as will be described within the context of the present invention and has yet been un-addressed in the art, such improved technologies with the above important considerations are capable of constructing the open multimedia transport platform across the whole OWA Service-Oriented Mobility Infrastructure (SOMI) comprising the aforementioned OWA mobile terminal, OWA Access Network and OWA IP Backbone network, wherein the aforementioned OWA Access Network and OWA IP backbone network can be the existing or future commercial networks.
Furthermore, such an OWA mobile terminal system as provided by the present invention could automatically optimize the system resources such as, but not limited to, power consumption and system configuration, and transmission resources such as, but not limited to, spectrum utilization, channel allocation and mobility handovers.
Taking consideration of the above many innovative approaches in the present invention, it is impossible for one ordinary skill in the art can have the ability to modify any possible prior arts in the field to come out this disclosed invention.